Having looked at Fantagraphics' catalog a few weeks ago, the time seemed ripe to pull back the curtain on Drawn and Quarterly's publishing plans for the coming months as well, especially since their distributor Farrar Straus and Giroux was kind enough to email me a link to their .pdf catalog.
What's in the offing? New books by Adrian Tomine, John Stanley, Frank King, just to name a few. Click on the link to see what else to expect.
November
Bigfoot by Pascal Girard. A nice but hapless teen becomes an unwanted YouTube celebrity when his friends post a video of him dancing in his living room online. From the author of Nicolas, which I loved, so I have high hopes for this. 48 pages. $19.95.
The Native Trees of Canada by Leanne Shapton. Shapton attempts to adapt a century-old book of nature by breaking down the various plants, trees, seeds and whatnot to their most basic shapes, until they become nearly abstracted forms. 96 pages. $19.95.
February
Scenes From an Impending Marriage by Adrian Tomine. Back when he got married a few years ago, Tomine created a special minicomic for all his wedding guests, chronicling his and his wife's frantic preparations for the big event in his typical self-deprecating fashion. Now this collection of short strips will be made available to all. Cute comics from a cartoonist that doesn't usually do cute. 40 pages. $9.95.
My New York Diary by Julie Doucet. Doucet's award-winning 2000 book about her initial experiences on moving to New York City will soon be back in print. 104 pages. $16.95.
Milk Teeth by Julie Morstad. One of the first and, quite frankly, best entries in D&Q's Petit Livres series gets reprinted. 104 pages. $16.95.
March
Mid-Life by Joe Ollman. The story of a middle-aged man, remarried and with both grown-up children and a new baby, who becomes infatuated with the children's entertainer that appears on his toddler's DVDs. A weird twist of fate actually brings him in contact with the performer, who is having her own crisis of sorts. I don't think I've ever read anything by this Montreal cartoonist before, but the samples in the catalog seem promising. 184 pages. $19.95.
April
Melvin Monster Vol. 3 by John Stanley. More John Stanley comics = happy me. I'm not sure if this is the final volume in the Melvin series, though I know it didn't last too long. 112 pages. $24.95.
Walt and Skeezix Book Five: 1929-1930 by Frank King. Edited by Chris Ware and Jeet Heer. Special, really awesome news: This volume will also include, courtesy of Chris Ware, a DVD showing scenes from some of King's home movies taken during the 1920s. That's a fantastic idea and I hope more publishers and editors pick up on it. 400 pages. $39.95.